Antidiabetic Activity of a Lotus Leaf Selenium (Se)-Polysaccharide in Rats with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

A selenium (Se)-containing polysaccharide, lotus leaf selenium (Se)-polysaccharide (LLP), was isolated from a lotus leaf. The effects of LLP on antioxidant enzyme activities and insulin resistance in pregnant rats with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were investigated. LLP administered orally at two doses (50 and 100 mg/kg) could significantly reverse the weight loss of pregnant rats before the delivery, fetal rats, and placentas in GDM rats (P < 0.05). Furthermore, LLP treatment induced a decrease of fasting blood glucose (FBG) and fasting blood insulin (FINS) levels in GDM rats, but an increase of hepatic glycogen content, when compared with those in GDM rats (P < 0.05). Also, oral administrations of LLP markedly improved the lipid profile of GDM rats, as evidenced by a reduction of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels except for the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level. Additionally, antioxidant enzyme levels, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione (GSH), in liver tissues of the GDM group were lower than those of the other groups, and following treatment of LLP, these indexes in liver tissues were equivalent to those of the control group (P > 0.05). All the data indicated that LLP may be a promising drug candidate or a healthcare food for GDM therapy or protection.

Lotus Leaf Aqueous Extract Reduces Visceral Fat Mass and Ameliorates Insulin Resistance in HFD-Induced Obese Rats by Regulating PPARγ2 Expression

“…The similar anti-diabetic activity of lotus leaf was also reported by other researchers. Zeng et al (2016) found that the treatment of rats with gestational diabetes mellitus with 50 and 100 mg/kg lotus leaf selenium-polysaccharide, a water extract of lotus leaf, for 2 weeks induced a significant decrease in FBG and insulin levels. Huang et al (2011) reported that lotus leaf methanolic extract (100 mg/kg) also significantly decreased blood glucose levels of normal mice and HFD-induced diabetic mice.…”

“…On the contrary, studies performed by Du et al (2010) and Guo et al (2013) found that lotus leaf hot water extract or its major active aporphine alkaloid nuciferine significantly reduced the serum TG, TC and LDL-c levels in HFD fed SD rats or hamsters. 1% lotus leaf ethanol extract or 50 or 100 mg/kg lotus leaf selenium-polysaccharide also significantly elevated HDL-c levels in db/db mice and gestational diabetes mellitus rats in addition to its role in reducing TG, TC, and LDL-c levels (Kim et al, 2013; Zeng et al, 2016). The different results between ours and literatures may be explained by the different concentrations and action time of lotus leaf or different origins and extraction methods of lotus leaf.…”

“…Lotus leaf, also known as Nelumbo nucifera leaf and is rich in a number of alkaloids such as nuciferine, pronuciferine, roemerine and so on, is such kind of TCMs with many beneficial roles in organism (Mukherjee et al, 2009; Sharma et al, 2017), including anti-obesity (Ono et al, 2006; Ahn et al, 2013), antioxidant (Lin et al, 2009; Zhu et al, 2015), hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects (Kim et al, 2013; Zeng et al, 2016), and lipolytic activity (Siegner et al, 2010). The anti-obesity effect of lotus leaf was reported to be associated with inhibiting the activities of pancreatic alpha-amylase and lipase in vitro (Ono et al, 2006; Ahn et al, 2013), accelerating lipid metabolism and up-regulating energy expenditure in HFD-induced obese mice and rats (Ono et al, 2006) and suppressing adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes (Ahn et al, 2013).…”

Laminarin counteracts diet-induced obesity associated with glucagon-like peptide-1 secretion

“…Further, some kinds of β-glucans have been identified to regulate energy homeostasis. Lotus leaf selenium-polysaccharide and oat β-glucan can alleviate insulin resistance and show anti-obesity functions in diabetes mice models [ 27 , 28 ]. However, whole-grain barley β-glucan fermentation did not improve glucose tolerance in rats fed with HFD [ 29 ].…”

Determination and pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of O-demethyl nuciferine in mice by UPLC–MS/MS

“…Lotus leaves from Nymphaeaceae has been recognized as a precious Chinese medicine for both pharmaceutical and food usage and is widely farmed in China for its high economic value [1,2]. The major active ingredients of lotus leaf are alkaloids such as nuciferine, O-demethyl nuciferine, and N-demethyl nuciferine, whose pharmacological activities contribute significantly to hypolipidemic, weight-losing, antibacterial, antiviral, seductive, and anticonvulsive effects, despite the rather low content in lotus leaves [3][4][5][6][7].…”